Stays In Vegas
by ThnksFrThMmrs87
Summary: They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but really does anyone believe that? The NY team is about to find out. Crossover with CSI Las Vegas. COMPLETE
1. Welcome to Vegas

Note From the Author—Okay, so this is the first chapter of my new story Stays In Vegas. I ask you to please be patient with me as I have never in my entire life attempted to write a crossover. I have also never even dreamed of attempting a CSI fic for fear of being at the mercy of the show's amazingly loyal fans. So I ask everyone to realize that this may be a bit off until I find a rhythm. I also know there will be lots of characters to follow but I love them all so they will all be included here and there. Only a few will be featured exclusively. You may also notice the distinct absence of Miami. I don't watch it so I don't feel comfortable with trying to write them. I hope you enjoy this, and feedback is always appreciated; although I'm not so receptive to criticism for the sake of being bitchy I welcome anything constructive.

Disclaimer—I don't own the characters of CSI and CSI: NY. Would that I did

They stepped into the bright light of mid-day Las Vegas, a very interesting crew considering their surroundings. The team from the New York City Crime Lab had arrived some twenty minutes previous for a conference they all thought was completely ridiculous. But they all knew it was necessary so they dealt. They were dressed in a range of different styles; two men in jeans and nice shirt, one in jeans and a henley, one in a suit, and the other in jeans and a t-shirt. The women in slacks, nice tops and high heeled boots looked just as out of place amongst the daisy dukes and halter tops that surrounded them. None of them particularly wanted to be there, but the chief had left no question as to them attending, so there they were. At least they could try and enjoy themselves in the process.

"Man, it's hot out here," Danny commented, tugging at the neck of his henley.

Flack laughed. "Man it was hot at home. Besides if you had dressed better it wouldn't have been an issue Messer."

In a t-shirt, Flack was the only one of them even remotely dressed for the weather and Danny looked him up and down. "What are you even doing here, remind me again?"

"Even New York's finest deserve a vacation once and a while Dan." He sent a wink in Stella's direction. "Gotta love it."

Surveying the team, Mac shook his head, allowing a small smile. "If you two are finished…" He nodded to the shuttle that would take them to the hotel. With everyone still talking, their bags were loaded in. Then in some sort of bizarre Crime Lab conga line Mac, Stella, Flack, Danny, Lindsay, Hawkes, Adam and Kendall loaded into the shuttle for the beginning of a very interesting trip.

When they arrived at the hotel there was some incredibly vocal protest, largely from Danny, about the guys and girls having to stay in separate rooms. "I feel like I'm back at summer camp. It's completely ridiculous."

Mac shook his head. "I think it's just as ridiculous as you do Danny, but it's the rules. Tell you what, as long as nobody back home finds out you can play musical rooms as much as you want."

Keys were exchanged, changing hands rapidly until they ended with an arrangement they were satisfied with. In the end Flack and Stella, Danny and Lindsay, Adam and Kendall, and Mac and Hawkes ended up sharing rooms. As everyone headed upstairs in the elevators Mac turned to find the cute little girl at the counter grinning at him.

He shook his head and returned the smile. "Sometimes I feel like I'm running a dating service."

Upstairs in their room Stella was carefully unpacking when Flack snuck up behind her. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he smiled when she leaned back against his chest. "Wanna play hookie?" he asked.

"You know I can't," she told him. She turned in his arms to kiss him. "But I certainly wish I could."

Flack pulled her close against him with a grin. "I hope you know that I plan on monopolizing as much of your free time as possible."

She returned the smile. "You won't hear any argument from me, but for the moment I've got to go."

"Go on, I'll see you later."

"Bye." She pecked him on the cheek. "Try to behave yourself."

"Don't I always?"

After a pointless kick off session Adam and Kendall split off for a lab session and Mac was pulled away for something to do with leadership. Though she couldn't help thinking the whole thing was a complete farce, Stella looked for seats for all of them in the field seminar. She saw a pretty open row and led the group over, sliding in next to what appeared to be another team. As she sat she looked over at the beautiful strawberry blonde next to her and noticed she looked about as happy as the rest of them to be there.

"I take it you appreciate this whole thing just as much as I do," Stella commented.

The woman turned with a smile. "You would definitely be right." She held out a hand. "Catherine Willows, Las Vegas."

Stella took the offered hand. "Stella Bonasera, New York."

Catherine nodded. "So your team was forced into this too?" she asked.

"Yeah. Mac, our boss, railed against it. He said it was completely pointless but in the end…" She shrugged.

"Sounds like us. Grissom hated the idea but we had even less of an excuse since it was close to home."

"You have a lot of your team here?" Stella asked.

"Pretty much everyone; Grissom got shuttled off to some leadership thing and the lab rats are doing their thing but the rest of us are here." She turned and nudged the man sitting next to her. "Nickie pay attention."

Nick was too busy staring at another CSI whom Stella was amused to find was Lindsay, who had yet to take her seat. Finally, when Catherine elbowed him in the stomach Nick turned. "Yeah?" he asked, and Stella heard the faint lilt of the south in his voice.

"Nick Stokes, this is Stella Bonasera from the New York Crime Lab."

Rather than shaking hands over the top of the other woman, Stella offered up a small wave. "Nice to meet you, but I think it's only fair to warn you that the girl you were just checking out is incredibly attached," she told him with a smile.

The grin he flashed her was quick and reminded her of Don. "Thanks for the heads up, and it's nice to meet you too."

Catherine went down the line and introduced the other two men with her. Stella found Warrick Brown's blue green eyes entirely disarming and his manor polite if a little guarded. Greg Sanders was what could only be described as, to coin one of her friends' terms, adorkable; and she found that she liked him immediately.

Stella managed to snag the attention of the rest of the team and introductions went out again. "Sheldon Hawkes, Danny Messer and Lindsay Monroe, this is Catherine Willows, Nick Stokes, Warrick Brown and Greg Sanders from the Las Vegas Crime Lab."

Hellos and waves were exchanged all around before they all settled in as the speaker started towards the podium. "We should talk afterwards. I'm always interested in hearing what goes on outside the world of Las Vegas," Catherine told her.

Stella smiled. "We'll plan on it."

After a mind numbingly dull hour the Las Vegas and New York teams practically stumbled out of the conference room. Seeing that Stella was still next to her, Catherine smiled. "I think I need a drink."

"I'm up for it."

The rest of the teams peeled off to do God only knew what before the next session they would be forced to sit through and Stella and Catherine headed for the bar. They both found that it was easy to fall into conversation about crazy cases, the higher ups, Mac and Grissom, and the rest of their teams. They were both happily sipping drinks and praying the next session would never come when Flack appeared at the door. Stella waved him over and Catherine smiled.

"I take it he's one of yours?" she asked.

Stella laughed. "He's mine in a manner of speaking. He's a detective that we work with on a pretty much constant basis. We've also been dating for almost a year."

Flack reached the table about the time of that particular declaration and smiled. "Hey." He bent and kissed Stella softly. "How did it go?"

"Horribly. What have you been doing all afternoon?"

"Absolutely nothing and it was fantastic." He turned that hundred watt grin of his in Catherine. "Hey."

Catherine smiled back at him. "Hi. Catherine Willows."

"Don Flack, nice to meet you." Flack looked back over at Stella. "Since you're in the middle of something I'm going to go see if I can find Danny and Hawkes."

"I believe that's him with two of my guys," Catherine told him, pointing towards the door. Sure enough Danny was walking in with Nick and Warrick and the three of them were chatting companionably. When they made it to the table Danny Stella introduced Flack and Catherine regarded the men with a smile. "It seems everybody's hitting it off."

Danny grinned. "Yeah it seems. Montana found Kendall and they managed to drag Adam into shopping but I ran into these two and escaped."

"Well the next session starts in a few minutes so we should all probably head in that general direction, much as I hate to admit it," Warrick chimed in.

Catherine's eyes caught his and held before she nodded. "We'll finish our drink and meet you there."

Stella's eyes met Flack's for a moment before following the others out. When they were gone Stella turned back to the table. "Warrick seems like a nice guy," she said casually.

"He is, and a great CSI."

"Married?"

Catherine smiled. "I can see where you're going. He was married, and let me tell you a lot of my fantasies went right down the drain when that happened. It didn't work out between them and he went through a really rough patch. He's been good for a while now but we just haven't gone there."

She nodded. "I can understand that. Would you still go there if you could?" Stella shook her head. "I'm sorry I'm prying."

"No, it's fine. It's actually nice to be able to talk about it with another woman. I would go there in a heartbeat but…" She shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, you never know what could happen. I guess we should probably get going to the next hour of pointless ranting."

"You're right. When it's over I'm sure I'll need another drink."

Stella laughed. "I get that feeling too. Maybe we can all grab a bite to eat afterwards."

"Sounds fantastic. Now on to the torture."

Note From The Author—Okay, all will be explained later, but for now I'll say I'm setting this roughly two years in the future and yes Danny and Lindsay are together. I certainly haven't forgotten his recent asinine transgressions but like I said I will go into that a bit later.


	2. Musings On A Relationship

Note From The Author—The feedback for this story has been so fantastic! Thank you all for encouraging me so much and urging me forward. I'm warning you now that this particular story isn't going to be really deep or existential. It's mostly going to be sort of silly and romantic but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway. Thanks for the reviews and keep on reading.

Disclaimer—I don't own the characters of CSI or CSI: NY

Dinner with the teams of New York and Las Vegas was a very colorful and vibrant affair. The waiters were slightly overwhelmed by the large group but somehow they managed. If Stella and Catherine had any reservations about bringing the two groups together, they were almost immediately alleviated. Conversation and jokes flowed easily and it seemed that nobody ran out of things to say.

Catherine and Stella chatted with each other and Warrick as they watched their handiwork. Mac and Grissom were quietly discussing… well something anyway. Over at the end of the table Nick and Lindsay were laughing about the commonalities in their upbringings while Danny chimed in once every now and then, all the while keeping a casual but careful eye on the other man. When Warrick and Catherine momentarily got lost in conversation Stella turned to Flack.

"Most interesting case?" Greg asked, leaning slightly forward across the table towards the detective.

Flack contemplated the question for a moment before he smiled. "There have been so many. Maybe a toss up between the woman who washed out of the self cleaning toilet and the skeleton dressed up as a tourist in Times Square. I don't know there have been a lot of interesting ones. What about you?"

"Lois O'Neal was pretty enthralling; the woman was amazing. Then there was the mother of the groom killed at the wedding. Problem there was that everybody wanted her dead."

Laughing, Stella turned from the conversation to survey the rest of the table. Hawkes had joined in Mac and Grissom's conversation and the three of them were debating some unknown subject. Adam and the tech Catherine had introduced as Hodges seemed to be clashing, albeit good naturedly, but it was Kendall who caught her attention. Lindsay had mentioned once that Kendall had professed her easy boredom, but the length of her employment at the lab seemed to suggest otherwise.

Stella had also noticed that for someone who had an issue with boredom, she was incredibly perceptive. She had spent the entire evening thus far only interspersing conversation with her observations of the others, Catherine and Warrick specifically. She certainly didn't seem to be bored with that particular pass time. She could tell that Kendall could see the same undertone with the pair from the Las Vegas lab, just as she could see the wheels turning in her head.

Later that night when the New York team was walking back down the strip to their hotel Kendall vocalized what went along with the wheels turning in her head. "Does anyone else think there's something going on between Catherine and Warrick?"

Adam slung and arm around her shoulder. "Kendall, just because we all decided to break the rules and live on the Arc doesn't mean that the rest of the world has."

A laugh came up from the group at that and Stella shook her head. "There's nothing going on between them."

"But they both want there to be."

Not wanting to say anything when she'd just barely met both of the parties in question Stella simply shrugged and changed the subject. Even as she did, she couldn't help but silently agree with Kendall. She knew from experience how bad it felt to want someone you worked with; she and Flack had both carried a torch for a long time before they had finally gotten their act together. She knew it was silly as she hadn't even known them for twenty-four hours, but she felt a kinship with the other CSIs and she could only hope that Catherine and Warrick would be able to work something out.

The next morning the conference continued bright and early with more seemingly pointless seminars and sessions. Still, newfound friendships among the Las Vegas and New York teams made it a lot easier; maybe too easy in fact. Mac and Grissom were sitting in the lobby of the conference center when Danny and Nick came walking towards them, both grinning, until they saw their bosses sitting there.

"Hey Mac," Danny said somewhat nervously.

"Aren't you two supposed to be in a session for another…" Grissom looked down at his watch. "Half an hour?"

Nick ran a hand over his hair. "Well, the thing is…" He looked over at Danny.

"We sort of got kicked out," Danny chimed in.

Mac only raised an eyebrow. "Kicked out?"

"Kicked out may not be the right word, maybe asked to leave," Nick told the two men.

Grissom only held a hand up. "I don't want to hear about it. As long as I don't have to catch hell about it from Eckley, I don't' want to hear it."

"Same goes for me," Mac added. "Just try to control yourself from now on Danny."

"You got it Mac." He and Nick turned to walk away, and they were both smiling as they did.

"You got kicked out?" Lindsay cried.

It was around an hour later when Danny and Nick met up with Lindsay and the others. Danny was currently trying to explain his earlier expulsion. "It wasn't so bad Montana, I swear."

"What on earth were you doing to get kicked out?" she questioned. She saw the grin that he exchanged with the other CSI and shook her head. "No, never mind, I don't want to know."

From across the room Catherine watched as Danny caught her in his arms. Lindsay was shaking her head, but her smile told the whole story. As she was watching the pair, Stella slid up next to her. "They're good together," she commented.

Catherine nodded. "They are good together. I noticed last night that they're careful with each other, like sometimes they're unsure of their footing."

"It doesn't surprise me that you picked up on it. They went through a really rough patch about two years ago."

"If it's private…"

Stella shook her head. "It's pretty much common knowledge by now. They had been together for a while when a little boy from Danny's building was killed. Danny was with him at the time and he couldn't seem to cope with it. Eventually he slept with the little guy's mother. It completely broke Lindsay's heart when he told her. Danny immediately wanted to fix things but after what he pulled…."

"She obviously wouldn't have wanted to jump into that mess."

"Exactly. I have to give Danny credit because he really wanted to fix things, but it took a long time to make it right. They've only been back together for about five months."

Catherine nodded. "It seems like they're strong now."

"Stronger than they were."

After Nick and Danny getting their butts tossed out of a session, the rest of their days were blissfully uneventful. At the end of the long day all everyone wanted was to relax. The New Yorkers headed back to their hotel as the Vegas team went to their cars to head home.

Catherine got to her car only to find that she'd left the dome light on all day long and her battery had died. She was digging in her bag for her cell phone when Warrick came up behind her, making her jump out of her skin. She whirled around to face him. "You about gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry Cath, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. You good?"

She shook her hair out of her face. "My battery's dead. I was just about to call someone."

"Don't bother; it's late. I can give you a lift home and we'll take care of your car in the morning."

"I don't want to be a pain in the ass Rick."

Warrick laughed. "You're not a pain in the ass Cath. Come on."

The car ride was comfortably quiet with comments and observations interspersed here and there. They pulled up at Catherine's and he was around the car and opening her door before she knew it. Both of them cautious from experience, they walked to the door together.

"Tell Lindsey hi for me," he told her.

She nodded. "I will." She opened the door and turned back to smiled at him. "Night Rick."

Unable to keep his hands to himself, he reached forward to tuck a piece of hair behind her ears, his fingers whispering against the skin of his cheek. "Night Cath."

Moments later he was back in the car, and Catherine was standing inside with her back pressed against the door. She felt like a ridiculous school girl, but she couldn't seem to stop the fluttering feeling resulting from that tiny bit of contact. Trying to shake it off, she headed to bed, feeling better but still a little bit shaky.

Early the next morning, Stella rolled over and was surprised to find she was alone in the hotel bed. She rose frowning, but the frown turned to a smile when she saw the note that Don had left along with her swimsuit.

'I decided to go down to the pool before it gets too crazy. If you wake up soon enough you should join me. Love you, Flack.'

Stella found she really couldn't resist the temptation of an early morning swim; so she slipped into her suit and headed down to the pool. When she got there she found that very few people were evidently willing to get up this early in the morning, even for the luxury of a swim. Save a few people scattered here and there along the fairly vast poolside she and Flack were pretty much alone. She found him immediately in the pool as he easily stroked through laps.

"Hey Detective," she called out.

Flack heard her and came to a stop when he completed the next lap. Smiling he climbed out. "Morning Stell."

For what must have been about the millionth time, she looked him up and down appreciatively. Of course she would have had to be dead not to appreciate the sight of a wet and shirtless Don Flack, but knowing he only had eyes for her somehow made the view all the more impressive. "Morning."

"You going to come over here and give me a real good morning or what?" he asked with a grin.

Rolling her eyes, but unable to suppress a smile, she sauntered a bit closer. "I don't know, you're all wet."

"Aww, come on Stell."

"Well." Laughing, she sidled up to kiss him quickly. "Feel better?"

He shook his head. "Nope, not yet." He pulled her flush against him and he brought their mouths together, kissing her languidly. He was still grinning when they pulled apart. "Now I feel better."

"Mm hmm," she murmured. "But now I'm all wet."

"That's perfect then," Flack commented casually, catching her around the waist.

Stella picked up on his attentions immediately and she shook her head. "Oh no, Don. I'm getting in the water all by myself."

"Oh but this way is so much more fun." He swung her up into his arms even as her legs kicked and she struggled against him. He had every intention of dropping her in, but one of her feet caught him just right and they went tumbling in together.

They came up together, sputtering and laughing. Stella shook soaking wet curls out of her face as she looped her arms around his neck. "Don Flack you should know better than to try and pull one over on me."

He shook his head. "Maybe I should, but why should I quit when I can end up in situations like this? I ended up with a beautiful woman in my arms didn't I?" he questioned.

"I can't really argue with that kind of logic." Figuring resistance was futile, she tilted her head up to welcome another kiss, and she certainly wasn't left disappointed.

Note From The Author—There you go; an Adam one liner, Danny and Nick mischief, and explanation as to how Lindsay and Danny ended up together after he shoved his head so far up his…. well you get the idea. The YoBling (am I completely off on that or what because I don't really use the nicknames) fans got a little vignette and there was something for all of us Stella and Flack lovers. As a side note, do I know if Flack actually likes to swim? Pretty much no. Could I resist the image of half naked and dripping wet Flack? Oh hell no. Come on people, Vegas, hotel pools; I had to go there. : ) And just so's you know, because I have a dirty mind and I totally went there a second after writing this so I'm sure at least one other person will, they weren't doing anything naughty in the pool. As I mentioned there were other people out there, and I somehow don't see Flack and Stella as voyeuristic. : )


	3. Bar Room Antics

Note From The Author—Yay for another chapter! For all of you Catherine and Warrick fans, there's something in here for you. I personally love the two of them together so I hope everyone else does as well. We're coming to a close within another chapter so hopefully you'll all like the way it ends : )

After their refreshing early morning swim Stella and Flack headed straight back up to the hotel room. That day was the last day of the conference, and the last thing that any of the CSIs wanted was to spend Saturday in Vegas being told how to do their jobs. However, all attempts to get out of it were promptly shot down, so they were stuck until that night. The two teams quickly decided that as soon as they were free they were going out for a night on the town before the New York crew had to get on a plane Sunday afternoon.

The sessions that day were just as pointless as all the others had been, and they found that the easiest way to get through them was to pretty much screw off. Greg and Adam spent a good portion of the day playing tic-tac-toe while Kendall went online shopping on her cell phone. Lindsay snuck in a paperback, Danny kept falling asleep and Mac and Grissom discussed cases and their labs.

In the back of every room, Stella and Catherine told each other their life stories. They quickly discovered that they had even more in common than they had originally imagined, even if only because of the sheer level of dysfunction in their pasts.

"You were honestly an exotic dancer?" Stella asked at one point.

Catherine laughed. "Stripper is the accurate word for it, but yeah I was. I was damn good at it too," she said with a smile.

Stella shook her head. "Well I doubt if my stories can compare to that."

"I don't know, from what you've told me you've dealt with plenty in your life. It's amazing you've made it through. You're obviously incredibly strong."

"I suppose I am, but I've always had good friends to support me." Smiling she thought back. "Mac and Don have been there through everything. When I went through everything with Frankie, I don't know if I would have been able to keep it together if not for them."

Catherine nodded. "But you did, and in the end that's what counts."

All in all they had a better time that day than they had throughout the entire duration of the conference. Still, when the closing session was called to an end they all practically jumped for joy.

After freshening up a bit the Las Vegas and New York teams headed out to have a good time. They ended up in a bar off the strip full of good food and plenty to drink. They saw the karaoke set up when they walked in and knew that they were in for an interesting night.

Somewhere along the way they had picked up a few extra members of the Las Vegas crew, and within moments of their arrival Hodges had bodily dragged Archie and Mandy up to the karaoke machine. The others watched in a combination of fascination and horror as Hodges began an incredibly interesting interpretation of Coming To America.

"I don't think I can handle that," Greg said with a shudder. "Anyone else want a drink?"

Not a one of them was about to turn that option down. Soon enough they were all at the bar, ordering everything from fries to beer to pizza to merlot to club soda. After placing their orders they all settled in at tables. The karaoke king and his reluctant background singers were booed off the stage blissfully quickly and they joined the others, but not without some grumbling from Hodges.

Conversation flowed fast and free as they all ate and enjoyed their drinks. It wasn't much more than an hour later before a few of them were teetering at the edge between tipsy and the drop to flat out drunk. This became incredibly evident when Stella and Flack took to the dance floor. Soon enough they were twirling, spinning and dipping their way across the floor; and it wasn't long before Kendall had dragged Adam out there with them. Lindsay was doing her best to get Danny out there, but wasn't having much luck. Mac and Grissom were surveying it all with their usual alert speculative air, and Nick was doing his best to talk Mandy into getting him another drink while Hawkes watched, shaking his head.

Catherine watched it all with a smile. Sitting at the bar, waiting for another glass of wine she looked out at the dancing couples. She zeroed in on Stella and Flack who despite the somewhat upbeat music were swaying softly, seemingly to their own tune. Feeling a sigh coming on, she watched as he pressed a kiss to her forehead before pulling her gently against him. They were one of those couples that looked as if they'd always been together, and Catherine wondered, not for the first time, if she'd be able to find that kind of bliss.

"They're good together," Warrick said from behind her.

She nodded. "They do. It's funny; Stella and I were saying the same thing about Lindsay and Danny at dinner. I don't think it ever occurs to her how perfect she and Flack seem for each other."

He nodded. "They seem like they've been through a lot."

"They have."

They both fell silent for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts. "Cath?"

She turned to face him. "Yeah?"

"Are you happy? I mean really happy?"

"That's always the sixty-five million dollar question isn't it?" she asked. "I'm happy Rick."

He smiled. "I sense a 'but' coming here."

"Isn't there always?" She looked out across the dance floor again to where Flack was whirling Stella in a spin. "I'm happy; I have a wonderful daughter and a fulfilling job that I love. But sometimes…"

"You feel like there's something missing," he chimed in.

She nodded. "Yeah," she said quietly.

Warrick's eyes met hers. "So what's missing?"

"That's missing," she told him, nodding towards the dance floor. "There are times when I miss feeling like part of a whole. I miss feeling that deep down connection with someone."

"Cath, you can still have that," he told her, sounding somewhat hesitant.

"Can I?" she asked, feeling her heart pound as she waited for the answer.

Figuring that actions spoke louder than words he tugged on her hand, pulling her off of the bar stool. Standing there in front of him she felt her stomach quake. Then he had pulled her into the circle of his arms, and his mouth was on hers. It didn't take long for her to fall into sensation without concern. The rest of the bar receded dimly into the edges of her vision and she deepened the kiss. They pulled apart slowly, Warrick's forehead coming to rest against hers.

The others watched the exchange with smiles. Hodges began to catcall and was cut off abruptly when Mandy elbowed him hard in the stomach. Kendall simply stood there for a moment, content that she'd been right about them. Then she and Adam began again to sway to the music. They passed Stella, who was holding tight to Don's hand as she looked over at her two newest friends with tears shining in her eyes. Part of that was assuredly the booze, but Kendall knew that part of it was simple heart.

All eyes were on Catherine and Warrick as they returned to the table; nobody noticed when Stella and Flack went missing. As he watched the Las Vegas team members Mac shook his head. " Looks like my team's rubbing off on you guys," he commented to Grissom.

Considering his history, Grissom found the comment somewhat amusing. "Trust me, you guys haven't got the corner on the market."

"Really?"

They were all so busy teasing Catherine and Warrick and talking amongst themselves that everything else sort of fell by the wayside. It was almost half an hour later when Hawkes looked around, searching for the two missing members of the party.

"Hey guys?" he asked.

Danny looked over at him curiously. "What's going on?"

"What happened to Stella and Flack?"

Sometime around seven in the morning Stella woke with a pounding head and a ridiculously dry mouth. She opened her eyes and the light sent another round of lightning pain stabbing into her temple. She wasn't surprised to find herself wrapped in Don's arms, but a quick look around told her they weren't in their hotel room, at least not the room they'd started their weekend in. Needing something, anything to calm the raging pain in her head, she slipped out of his arms and stood. Pulling on Flack's discarded shirt, she went in search of her purse where she knew she would find some aspirin, wondering what the hell had happened the night before.

She could have wept with gratitude when she found the pain killer she'd been searching for. After downing about six of them she sighed and ran a hand haphazardly through her hair. Then the curls tangled on something on her hand and with wide eyes and a pounding heart she pulled her hair away and held her hand up where she had a clear view. "Oh my God."


	4. My Last Name

Note From the Author—Here we go. Like some of you didn't guess where I was going with this story; you're all just on the ball like that and I'm sure many of you figured this out. Plus it's Vegas, somebody had to get married!

The rock on Stella's finger was part of the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. If it was real it had probably cost them about seven paychecks and lord help them but it looked real. Feeling the world start to close in, she sat down hard on the end of the bed. She heard Don groan when she jostled the bed and looked over her shoulder. She was watching him when he rolled over. "Stell, where the hell are we?"

"I have no idea."

Wincing, he sat up and rubbed his hands across his face. Then, feeling something there that shouldn't have been, he opened his eyes. "Holy Mary mother of God."

"Yeah." She held out her left hand for him to see.

"Is that real?"

She shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I don't remember anything that happened last night after Catherine and Warrick kissed at the bar."

"Neither do I." He looked down at his wedding band speculatively. "Did we actually do this?"

"So it would seem." The reality of it crushed down on her. "Oh my God."

Don climbed out of the bed and went to sit next to her, resting an arm across her shoulder. "We can figure this out Stell."

She shook her head. "We got married and I can't even remember it! We don't even know if our rings are real. We were probably married by Elvis or a guy in a monkey suit or something."

"I know. We're going to get the rest of the team and we're going to figure out where we got married and if the rings are real."

Stella nodded. "I suppose if anyone can figure it out its two teams of CSIs."

He kissed her quickly. "Definitely. Speaking of which, we should probably figure out where we are and get back to our hotel and get started on this."

"This is going to be interesting."

They found themselves in a motel off the strip and a good fifteen minutes from their hotel. When they finally got back they found the lobby full of frantic members of the New York and Las Vegas teams.

Lindsay was the first to spot them. "Thank God!"

The entire group surrounded them. "What the hell happened to you guys?" Danny asked.

"That's an excellent question," Stella said weakly. "We aren't exactly sure. What happened on your end?"

Catherine shook her head. "We all just realized you were gone. At first we figured that you'd just come back to the hotel."

"We got back here and the concierge told us you'd never gotten here. By one this morning we started to get worried and we've been looking for you since," Mac told them.

"Well, we can't give you all the details, but we know one thing we evidently did last night," Flack announced. Moving together, he and Stella both held out their left hands. "I'd say this was the high point."

Lindsay reached out to take hold of Stella's hand. "Oh my God. Is it..?"

"Real? We don't know. That's sort of the problem," Stella said.

"We don't know where we bought the rings, where we got married, if it was legal…" Flack let that little piece of information hang.

"Well, your plane leaves in what, six hours? We've got about that long to figure it all out," Warrick told them.

Flack shook his head. "It's a kind of daunting task."

"Nothing worse than what we've dealt with before," Mac responded. "We've just got to get to work."

"Move 'em out," Stella sighed.

Three hours later they had been to almost every wedding chapel on the strip between the bar and the motel where they'd ended up. The sheer number was daunting in and of itself, and so far they hadn't had any luck. There were three left on the list, and Stella and Flack were praying that one of them would turn something up.

As Stella looked up at the sign for the Hula Hut of Love she sent up a prayer. "Please God, not here."

"I'm with you there," Flack told her. "Come on."

They walked in and were immediately greeted by a cheerful man in a grass skirt. "Welcome to the Hula Hut of Love where… Oh it's you two again!"

Stella dropped her head to Don's shoulder. "God no."

The hula man frowned at her but rebounded almost immediately. "So, what can I help the pair of you with? Decide to take the picture package?"

Flack nodded. "Yeah, we actually want to take a second look at them."

"Not a problem, be back in a jiffy." He scurried off and Flack's face screwed up into a grimace. 'Jiffy?' he mouthed to Stella. In a moment he was back to hand them a packet of pictures. "Take your time and look them over."

As he wandered off Stella examined each of the pictures carefully. They had gotten married in jeans, but they thankfully didn't look too disheveled. "At least we don't look plastered," she muttered.

"At least there's that."

"Excuse me," Stella called. "I feel so ridiculous, but I can't remember if we asked last night. This is completely legal?"

He nodded. "Oh yes its completely legal. In fact, I hadn't thought of it until just now, but you left this last night." He disappeared for a moment and came up with a nondescript piece of paper. "Here you go."

Flack gingerly took the piece of paper and looked down to see an honest to God marriage license. He handed it to Stella then turned a smile on the other man. "Thanks a lot. We'll be heading out now."

"Oh, you wouldn't like the picture package?"

"No," Stella and Flack told him in unison.

They walked out into the hot Vegas sun and Stella pressed a hand to her heart. "I can't believe this."

Don was prepared to answer, but he was stopped by his ringing cell phone. "Yeah, Flack. Warrick? Tell me you have some good news for me."

Standing with Catherine in the twentieth jewelry store that the teams had visited, Warrick sighed. "I don't know man; I guess it could be good news or bad news."

"Good news first."

"Good news is at least you're not wearing fake rings. Bad news, they cost about as much as you figured they would, and there's no way in hell they're taking them back."

Flack rubbed a hand across his face wearily. "Okay man, thanks. We'll meet you back at the hotel."

"They figured out where we bought the rings?" Stella asked.

He nodded. "They did, and they're about as real as it gets and they can't be taken back."

"I was afraid of that." She gazed down at the ring momentarily. "Let's just get back to the hotel."

By the time they made it back to the hotel and shared all of their information with the others, they barely had time to get their things together before it was time to head off to catch their flight. Their new Las Vegas friends accompanied them to the airport and as they prepared to part ways there were several promises of emails and visits to New York.

Catherine pulled Stella away at the last moment. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm not sure how to feel to be perfectly honest. I don't know what we're going to do."

"Well, if you end up having a real wedding I expect an invitation," she said with a smile.

The pair of them embraced and a few minutes later they all said goodbye. It wasn't until they were sitting there waiting for the boarding call that Stella and Flack broached the subject of their destined to be infamous nuptials.

"What's the plan here?" he asked.

She sighed. "I don't know."

Noting that she wasn't quite meeting his eyes, he gently raised her chin. "Would it be so horrible to be married Stell?"

"I never said it would be horrible."

"Okay, so let's think about this logically. You love me right?"

"You know I do."

"Okay, and you want to be with me?"

"Don you know…"

He placed a finger over her lips briefly with a grin. "Shh, I'm making a point here." He noted with satisfaction that she smiled at him. "So you love me, and you want to be with me. And I love you, and I want to be with you. Isn't this the next logical step?"

She shook her head. "We were married by a man in a hula skirt, in jeans, when we were too drunk to remember it."

"So we have another wedding. We have a real wedding with all of our friends and we make it happen the right way, our way this time. I mean come on Stell, we've already got these shiny new rings, so we should probably just go for it."

Stella couldn't help it, she laughed out loud. "Maybe you're right."

He shrugged. "I'm pretty much always right, and I'm definitely right about this."

"I always knew there was a reason I loved you." She leaned forward to kiss him. "So I guess I'm Mrs. Flack huh?"

"Yeah I guess you are."

With a contented sigh she settled in against his side. "You realize that it's going to take an incredibly amazing wedding to make up for the hula skirt right?"

He kissed her temple. "Yeah I know." Then he frowned. "Let's just keep the hula skirt detail within the group."

Note From The Author—I know this makes this story shorter than my other multi-chapters but this is it for the story. Just as a side note, having never been married in Vegas I'm not sure if a Hula chapel even exists, but I thought it was amusing. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts! P.S. I'm wigging out because _Hockeymom_ nominated me at the Forums for Fanfiction awards, and my writing has never ever been recognized for anything. To quote my favorite Simpsons turn of phrase, Holy Flurking Shnit. Hockeymom, do you mind if I say wow a few more times? : )


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